(DOJ) - 12/20/2014 - Lockheed
Martin Integrated Systems (LMIS) has agreed to pay $27.5 million to
resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by knowingly
overbilling the government for work performed by LMIS employees who
lacked required job qualifications.

The settlement was announced today by Acting Assistant Attorney
General Joyce R. Branda for the Justice Department’s Civil Division and
U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman for the District of New Jersey.
“Contractors that knowingly bill the government in violation of
contract terms will face serious consequences,”Acting Assistant
Attorney General Branda said. “The department will ensure that those who do
business with the government, and seek taxpayer funds, do so fairly and
in accordance with the applicable rules.”
LMIS is a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Inc., which is headquartered
in Bethesda, Maryland. The alleged labor mischarging occurred on the
Rapid Response (CR2) contract and the Strategic Services Sourcing (S3)
contract, both issued by the U.S. Army Communication and Electronics
Command (CECOM). CECOM is located at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, and at
the Aberdeen Proving Group in Maryland.
The purpose of the CR2 and S3
contracts is to provide rapid access to products and services to be
provided to the Army in Iraq and Afghanistan. Individual task orders
then are separately negotiated, based on these contracts, to quickly
meet the needs of CECOM. LMIS allegedly violated the terms of the
contracts by using under-qualified employees who were billed to the
United States at the rates of more qualified employees. The overbilling
allegedly resulted in greater profit for LMIS.
“This settlement demonstrates the commitment of the Defense Criminal
Investigative Service (DCIS) and our partners to vigorously pursue
alleged violations of the False Claims Act,” DCIS Northeast Field Office Special Agent Craig Rupert said. “All
contractors doing business with the federal government are expected to
abide by the acquisition rules no matter who they are. Investigations
of such allegations are necessary to protect American taxpayers and our
warfighters.”Source: Dept. of Justice